The #2 seed Penney Lady Hornets, in regular season play against the Grand River Conference champion Trenton Lady Bulldogs, lost 11-1 on the Hornets home field in Hamilton, but, in perhaps a move with the strategy of a long season involved, Penney Head Coach Jim Dickey did not show the powerful Trenton offense the dynamite left arm of freshman Julia Kanoy, saving her for a potential postseason match-up.
In a story-line that nearly matched six years ago, when the Lady Hornets upset Trenton in a district final showdown in Maysville, the 2017 edition of the Lady Bulldogs met Penney in the Class 2, District 15 championship game on Saturday afternoon, with Kanoy getting the ball for the Lady Hornets against Trenton junior Ainsley Tolson, while, this time, Trenton enjoyed home-field advantage.
In action broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7, the Lady Hornets used “small ball” and a leaky Trenton defense in the first inning to grab a quick 1-0 advantage. Graycen Prothero reached via an infield error and moved to second on a Lexi Potts bunt single. On that hit, the Lady Bulldogs threw the ball down the right-field line, allowing Prothero to reach third, while Potts reached second one pitch later on a stolen base. After a Gillian Gibler strikeout, clean-up hitter Ali Trosper drove in Prothero with a safety squeeze bunt.
With Kanoy shutting out the Bulldogs on only one hit and one walk through three innings, the Lady Hornets doubled the advantage in the fourth, with McKauley Prothero reaching first base courtesy of a one-out fielding error. Prothero stole second, and reached third on a sacrifice bunt by Kanoy. A two-out single sliced to left by Cheyenne Farrow, off the glove of diving Trenton shortstop Mykah Hurley, pushed the lead to 2-0.
Tolson held down the Hornets from there, firing three consecutive shutout innings, working around two hits and a fielding error over the last half of the game. However, Kanoy’s game strengthened over the middle innings, with the freshman retiring nine straight batters over the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.
Down 2-0 going into the bottom of the 7th, Trenton started a rally on a lead-off single by freshman Maci Moore. Sidney Lynch hit a ground ball up the middle of the diamond, grabbed by Potts for the force at second, with Lynch beating out the throw to first. Lexi Whitaker was then retired on a smash to first baseman Gillian Gibler, with the throw to second base too late to retire a sliding Lynch. A walk to Jayden Roeder put two runners on base with two outs, with the potential game-winning run now at home plate, as Kennedy Norton replaced Lynch as a courtesy runner at second.
Ashten Whitaker, with the crowd roaring on both sides of the diamond, then solidly hit a ground-ball to the left of Potts, with the Penney shortstop having the short-hop go off her left side and roll into short center field, loading the bases. A fielding error by second baseman Atison Allsup, on a grounder hit by McKayla Blackburn, gave Trenton its first run of the game, cutting the lead to 2-1. With the bases loaded and two outs, and the Trenton fans roaring in anticipation of a potential game-winning hit, a ground ball, sizzled to the right side of the dirt at Mark Griffin Field, went right to Allsup, who tossed the ball to Gibler to ignite a celebration for the Hamilton side.
Looming as large factors in the loss for Trenton were four errors, three of those occurring the innings (1st and 4th) that saw runs plated by the Lady Hornets. Ainsley Tolson pitched valiantly for THS, holding her team in the game with 7 innings of five-hit softball, with both runs allowed being unearned. Tolson struck out four batters and hit not allow a walk. Trenton’s offense, arguably the most potent in the state in Class 2 throughout the season, was held in check by Kanoy, who allowed just two hits (both singles) over seven innings. The run allowed in the 7th was unearned. Kanoy struck out seven Trenton batters, walked two, and hit a batter (Salem Croy leading off the fourth inning).
Penney, now 18-6 on the season, will host a Class 2 sectional on Wednesday, against the winner of Monday night’s (6:00) District 16 final, with Marceline taking on Macon at Macon High School. Trenton, at 22-1 coming into the final week of their season, had been considered a legitimate threat to contend for a Class 2 state championship. Instead, the Lady Bulldogs suffer a bitter defeat and sudden end to a season of high expectations, ending the campaign with a record of 22-3. With only two seniors (Ashten Whitaker and Jayden Roeder), lost to graduation, 2018 should be another outstanding softball season at THS, although in the short-term, that will be of little consolation for the 2017 group headed into their off-season.
On Sunday afternoon, the rain-delayed Class 1, District 15 tournament played its semifinals, with #1 seed North Harrison shutting out Worth County 6-0, while Albany ended the season of the Princeton Lady Tigers, winning 10-1. The Shamrocks will play the Warriors at 5 o’clock Monday afternoon in Albany for the district title.
In Class 2, District 14 at Lawson High School, the Lathrop Lady Mules beat Mid-Buchanan 6-1 while the Plattsburg Lady Tigers edged North Platte 1-0. Lathrop and Plattsburg will meet for the district title on Monday night, with the winner earning a home game in the Class 2 sectional round on Wednesday night.
Marshall beat Chillicothe 6-2 to win the Class 3, District 13 title. Chillicothe finishes the season with a record of 19-7, having begun its final week of the season with a 3-0 win at Trenton, then following that up with a district semifinal win over Kirksville on Thursday night in Boonville.
In Class 1, District 16, North Andrew edged Stanberry 3-2 in nine innings, with Platte Valley beating King City 7-5 in eight innings in the semifinals, sending the Lady Cardinals and Lady Longhorns into a district final showdown.
District 14 had first-round and semifinal games pushed back to Saturday due to last week’s rain. Stewartsville beat Pattonsburg 19-6 and DeKalb shutout Winston 15-0 in the opening round. In the semifinals, Maysville downed Stewartsville 12-1 while DeKalb edged West Platte 5-4 in 11 innings, sending the Lady Wolverines and Lady Tigers to the district final.
The District 13 semifinals found Polo beating Braymer 7-0, while Norborne handled Hardin-Central, winning 9-2.
